Diver`s Family Sues

DIGEST

The family of a man who died while scuba diving off North Palm Beach filed suit on Tuesday, claiming a company sold the man contaminated compressed oxygen.

Michael Roy Mortimer, a Lake Worth firefighter, drowned on Aug. 30, according to an autopsy report from the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner`s Office.

Mortimer`s widow, Marion, is suing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court for damages of more than $2 million.

In January, Mortimer, 30, went to National Weldco Inc., in West Palm Beach, to buy compressed oxygen to use for his diving tanks, the suit says. Company employees told Mortimer he should buy ``medical`` oxygen rather than ``technical or industrial`` oxygen.

The suit claims at least one of the cylinders sold to Mortimer contained oxygen that was contaminated with carbon monoxide and caused him to drown.